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A sad day
#14072 05/15/11 10:43 PM
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Steve C Offline OP
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I lost a good friend and close associate yesterday. Her husband called me in the afternoon with the sad news. She died with her husband and her mother at her side.

She was my coworker, occupying the cubicle next to me for the last 15 years. We have worked together since 1986. Last December, she got a call at the office, from her doctor telling her to go to the emergency room, since tests showed she had a serious pancreatitis problem. She never came back to work.

It took several weeks to determine the problem was actually cancer in or near the pancreas. An operation on Christmas eve to correct a duct blockage found cancer had spread to the lymph nodes all around the area. It took a long time to recover from the surgery, and all went downhill from that point on.

I was able to see her a couple of times, but she really didn't want visitors. So I feel fortunate to have seen her those times.

She and her husband were hikers, spending lots of time around Mammoth, and hiking many trails of the area. I think her favorite place was around Big Pine Lakes. The screen background on her computer is a picture from the summit of Mt Whitney.

She was a Whitney Hikers Association paying member (tj_thread), although she never posted to our forums.

It is such a raw deal that she was not able to enjoy any time in retirement.

Rest in peace, Tina. Lord knows I'll miss you.

- - - - -

Edit: Here's a picture. Tina always hated to have her picture taken, but at the request for a staff group picture, she posed with the rest of us. This was taken just 7 months ago. Tina is in the middle.


Last edited by Steve C; 05/16/11 10:30 PM. Reason: added picture
Re: A sad day
Steve C #14073 05/16/11 01:44 AM
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I'm so very sorry to hear this Steve.
I lost 4 co-workers (3 of whom I knew personally, and all 3 on my floor of our building) all 4 to lung cancer in the past few years. It's never easy to take.

CaT


If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracle of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.
- Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Wilderness Act into law (1964)
Re: A sad day
Steve C #14077 05/16/11 03:17 AM
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Steve:

So sorry for your loss, and grateful for your expressing your grief here with us. You have a community here with you.

Peter


Wherever you go, there you are.
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Re: A sad day
saltydog #14080 05/16/11 04:08 AM
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Steve, sorry to hear about your loss.


Verum audaces non gerunt indusia alba. - Ipsi dixit MCMLXXII
Re: A sad day
Steve C #14084 05/16/11 05:25 AM
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Pam and I are sorry about the news.

For Tina: We will see you on the mountain.


Journey well...
Re: A sad day
+ @ti2d #14085 05/16/11 05:33 AM
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My thoughts are with Tina.
All the survivors on this board know how hard it is that we have all lost another family member.


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Re: A sad day
Steve C #14087 05/16/11 05:43 AM
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My Condolences to you Steve.

RIP Tina

Re: A sad day
tdtz #14092 05/16/11 07:06 AM
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I'm very sorry, Steve.

Re: A sad day
Steve C #14093 05/16/11 07:14 AM
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Steve,

Sorry for your loss. Sounds like Tina was an exceptional person and will be dearly missed by many.

Wazzu

Last edited by wazzu; 05/16/11 09:51 AM. Reason: spelling
Re: A sad day
Steve C #14095 05/16/11 07:18 AM
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Steve,

Sincere condolences.

James

Re: A sad day
Steve C #14103 05/16/11 09:29 AM
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Very sorry to hear that Steve. Some day we'll lick the Big C.

Re: A sad day
Bulldog34 #14106 05/16/11 10:13 AM
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My condolences to you Steve.That certainly hits home hard for some of us.I will wear my "Cancer Sucks" shirt I bought at City of Hope for her in her memory.
If you get the chance to talk to her family let them know that The Mt. Whitney Hikers Association grieves for their loss.

Re: A sad day
Steve C #14108 05/16/11 10:31 AM
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Steve,

I'm so sorry to hear about Tina's passing. I've never met her, but I feel a closeness to her because of knowing you through the Whitney Zone. She must have been a great person if she loved to hike and was a WHA member too.

All of us who have worked full-time jobs or are still working full-time jobs, spend nearly more time with our co-workers than we do with our own families, so it's easy to understand how you knowing Tina 15 years while she sat in a cubicle next to you would mean that she was in a way family to you.

Losing the one's we love and care about is always such a downer.

Thank you for sharing and please let Tina's family know that Tina's WHA family mourn their loss and your's too.

If you have a picture of Tina, it would be wonderful to see it.

Sincerely,
Lynn


Lynnaroo
Re: A sad day
lynn-a-roo #14125 05/16/11 03:16 PM
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Steve, my sincere condolences for you and for Tina's family.

Not sure this helps, but... for the third time I will be taking a friend's obituary to the top of Whitney (in August). This is getting to be a habit for me, unfortunately, but it helps give me some closure at a special high place. Of course, there are many other special places, too. Take care. Harvey

Re: A sad day
Harvey Lankford #14141 05/16/11 09:11 PM
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I'm a former long term cubicle denizen myself, Steve, so I have an empathy for what you've faced beyond the raw facts of having known someone who's met their time. My sincere condolences.

Re: A sad day
Whitney Fan #14144 05/16/11 10:34 PM
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Steve C Offline OP
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Thank you everyone for the very kind words. I appreciate the thoughts.

I don't think I am so much in need of condolences... but I sure feel badly that Tina and her husband missed out sharing their golden years together.

I edited the first post above, and added a picture. We have it framed in our office.

Re: A sad day
Steve C #14147 05/17/11 02:27 AM
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A Thousand Winds

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that flow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grains.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die.

Mary Elizabeth Frye


I read this poem at two family funerals. Yes, they are gone, but they are a part of my world forever for they are everywhere I roam.



Journey well...
Remembering Tina
+ @ti2d #23994 05/15/12 05:28 PM
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Steve C Offline OP
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Posting this as a remembrance...

How time flies! A year has gone by since Tina passed away last May 14.

I miss my friend and colleague. Sure is a big hole in our office staff, not to mention the empty cubicle next to mine.

She had a picture on her desk of she and her husband sitting at the Mt Whitney summit, but I can't find it.
However, I did find one of them at Trailside meadow:




Re: Remembering Tina
Steve C #24025 05/16/12 08:13 AM
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That's a great picture, Steve.
TM is one of my favorite places on the MT.
A year goes by so fast...

David


If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracle of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.
- Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Wilderness Act into law (1964)

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